This invention relates to a shampoo suspension containing an amine functional siloxane polymer. More particularly, the invention is directed to a suspension for washing and conditioning hair, and in which the suspension is in the form of a mixture containing the polymer, water, a nonionic surfactant, and a detersive surfactant.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,227, issued Dec. 17, 1985, there is disclosed and described in detail a shampoo formulation containing certain amine functional siloxane polymers, a nonionic surfactant, a detersive surfactant, and water. The shampoo in the '227 patent is in the form of a solution, and the term "solution" is described as meaning that the essential components are homogeneously mixed and that the components are subdivided to such an extent that there is no appearance of light scattering visible to the naked eye when a one inch diameter bottle of the mixture is viewed in sunlight. The solution in the '227 patent is also stated to preferably contain a thickener for the purpose of modifying the viscosity of the solution.
The present invention is an improvement in the shampoo formulation of the '227 patent, and is directed to a hair washing and conditioning composition in the form of a suspension, rather than in the form of a solution as described in the '227 patent. Like the '227 patent, the suspension of the present invention also contains an amine functional siloxane polymer, a nonionic surfactant, a detersive surfactant, and water, and therefore, for purposes of the present invention, the '227 patent is considered incorporated herein by reference.
The suspension form of the composition of the present invention possesses advantages beyond the solution form of the composition of the '227 patent. For instance, a suspension exists in a different state from that inherent in a solution form of composition, which will be described in more detail hereinafter. Secondly, because of the use in the present invention of a suspension instead of a solution as in the '227 patent, viscosity modifying thickening compositions are not required in order to formulate the hair washing and conditioning shampoos of the present invention. Hence, the suspension shampoo composition of the present invention is free of viscosity modifying ingredients such as thickening compositions, and goes beyond the disclosure of the '227 patent, and performs functions that differ substantially from that set forth in the prior art.
Several other significant differences exist between the suspension form of the shampoo formulation of the present invention and the solution form of the shampoo formulation of the '227 patent. For instance, the solution of the '227 patent contains soluble particles of the amine functional siloxane polymer, whereas the suspension of the present invention contains insoluble particles of the polymer. The order of magnitude of the soluble particles of the amine functional siloxane polymer of the '227 patent is about 0.03-0.04 microns and less in diameter, whereas the order of magnitude of the insoluble particles of the polymer in the suspension of the present invention is from one to about one hundred microns in diameter, with about ten microns being an average diameter. Thus, the particle size of the insoluble particles of the amine functional siloxane polymer in the suspension of the present invention is from twenty-five to twenty-five hundred times larger than the size of the particles of the soluble polymer in the solution of the '227 patent.
There is also a significant difference in the mole percent of amine units of the amine functional siloxane polymer of the '227 patent and the polymer of the present invention. In the '227 patent, the mole percent of amine units is said to be between two and five. In the present invention, the mole percent of amine units is much less, and can be as low as 0.05-0.8. Finally, there is a significant difference in the viscosity of the amine functional siloxane polymer of the '227 patent and the polymer of the present invention. In the '227 patent, the viscosity is generally less than about five hundred centistokes measured at twenty-five degrees Centigrade. In the present invention, the viscosity is much larger, and can be in excess of about one thousand centistokes measured at twenty-five degrees Centigrade, and can even be as high as thirteen thousand centistokes or more. Thus, the shampoo suspension of the present invention is significantly different from the solution type of shampoo described in the '227 patent.